Political integration and pilgrimage in middle range societies: A test case in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
详细信息
- 作者：Jordan ; Gretchen Warrens.
- 学历：Doctor
- 年：2002
- 导师：Cordell, Linda S.
- 毕业院校：University of Colorado
- 专业：Anthropology, Archaeology.
- ISBN：0493947817
- CBH：3074758
- Country：USA
- 语种：English
- FileSize：7955841
- Pages：253
文摘
Pilgrimage has been a focus of models proposed over the past two decades for the archaeological site of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. A number of scholars have suggested that the broad-scale distribution of Chacoan culture throughout the San Juan Basin in the 10th, 11th and early 12th centuries A.D. was promoted by regional participation in pilgrimage rituals in the canyon. This scenario could potentially explain several aspects of the archaeological record at Chaco Canyon such as its central location within the region, the convergence of an extensive network of roads there, and the presence of a dozen multi-story buildings with thousands of rooms but with an apparently small resident population.;In order to evaluate the utility of this models, it was necessary to develop a broader-based understanding of the variability in pilgrimage practices cross-culturally. An archaeological model of pilgrimage derived from the investigation reported here provides a basis to address these issues. The model defines specific features of pilgrimage practices that vary according to context and that have the potential for archaeological visibility. A test of the model in two archaeological sites known through written records to have been pilgrimage centers demonstrates its effectiveness in identifying past pilgrimage sites.;The model is then used to evaluate the archaeological record of Chaco Canyon. Because interpretations of data key to determining the presence of pilgrimage there are widely divergent, especially with regard to trash midden deposition and stratigraphy, interpretations of Chaco as a pilgrimage destination are inconclusive. An important contribution of this model for the Chaco case is its ability to identify specific interpretive problems for future research. Most importantly, the model provides a descriptive approach to the variability in pilgrimage form, relates that variability to the context in which pilgrimage is practiced and identifies archaeological signatures of pilgrimage centers.